This event welcomed recently returned Student, Faculty, and Specialist Fulbrighters to our San Diego Chapter. Thirty-one Fulbrighters and Friends of Fulbright gathered on the new Rooftop Patio of the Key and Cleaver eatery and bar in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood. We had time to meet each other and talk informally, followed by some more structured activities. The mix of current and past Fulbrighters from multiple kinds of programs generated great energy.
Several Fulbrighters gave presentations about their Fulbright experience. Judy spoke about her personal, academic, and institution building journey, woven through multiple Fulbrights, including Scholars Awards and Fulbright Specialist Awards. Andra talked about how two International Education Administrators Awards improved her service to students and helped her to build programming for UC-San Diego. Al and Khalid spoke about their experiences–as an United States Scholar going abroad and as an International Scholar coming to the United States respectively.
We also presented information about upcoming Fulbright Association Chapter elections following which current FA Board Members talked with attendees individually about their experience serving on our San Diego Board of Directors. Five attendees of this event ran for, and were elected to, our Board of Directors in June 2024, including our new Vice President, Mathew Holloway, Secretary, Al Schleicher, and Board Members Saloua Saidane (Mesa Community College), Eniko Csomay (SDSU), and Judy Shepherd (SDSU Emerita).
We wrapped up by summarizing the kinds of events, projects, and programs that our chapter has sponsored in the past and encouraged discussion and feedback about what kinds of activities, outreach, and service projects participants would like our Chapter to focus on in the coming years.
